


Jake and PB have a Mature Conversation

by h0ld3n



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Missing Scene, Past Relationship(s), Unrequited Crush, burning low, s4e16 burning low
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 23:38:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19800160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h0ld3n/pseuds/h0ld3n
Summary: Takes place directly after burning lowFocuses on Princess Bubblegum's thoughts and questions Jake has for her.





	Jake and PB have a Mature Conversation

“Shut Up!”

The princess’s words hung in the air between her and Jake.

“So you do like him! Why’d you never make a move?” Jake asked.

“I don’t like him!” PB groaned.

“Why not?” Jake whined back.

“It’s complicated. First of all, I’m not 18, I’m over a thousand years old,” Bubblegum squeezed the bridge of her nose.

“Wooooooooah, what?” Jake was taken aback a bit.

“Take me back to the treehouse I can explain on the way there,” the princess put her hand on her head and allowed herself to be picked up as she felt Jake stretch beneath her.

“So, are you older than Marceline?” Jake’s tone was back to its friendly inquisitive self.

“No,” PB stared into the sunset, a look of longing and sorrow in her eyes, before she sighed.

“What’s that sigh for princess?” Jake stretched his eyes back to make a silly face at Bubblegum in order to try and cheer her up.

“Marceline,” Bubblegum turned away from Jake.

“Ok yeah what’s the deal with you and her?” Jake stretched his face to follow her gaze.

“I-uh,” she blushed

“What’s the deal with your kingdom too? How are you so old?” Jake interrupted with more questions.

“Jake, please!” Bubblegum shouted.

“Oh sorry Princess, go on,” Jake let his face retract back to its normal place.

“So, a long time ago, I did not know much of what it was to connect with others. I had a lot of family problems and it really messed me up, you know?” PB looked to the ground, unable to meet Jake’s gaze.

“Yeah man,” Jake responded empathetically.

“I didn’t know much for a long time, pretty much until Marceline and I met. She was my first real friend. We went on tons of adventures together but eventually, work got in the way and the kingdom got too big,” she sounded tired.

“Jobs are important, princess,” Jake offered.

“I guess yeah, jobs are important,” Bubblegum repeated.

Bubblegum sat in silence for a few seconds, unsure of what to continue with. She elected to watch the treehouse come into view and the movement of Jake’s legs while she collected her thoughts. She was grateful that Jake did not rush her to speak

“The first hundred years or so of construction were great; I did junk for the kingdom and was able to hang with Marcy on the side. I even encouraged her to do start pursuing her love of music, but then…” she trailed off, not wanting Jake to know she sometimes thought of her subjects as too much work.

It was something which made her feel rotten inside. She loved her subjects, she really did, but they could be a real handful and seemed to be almost unable to do anything for themselves. But they were her responsibility, her duty, her loyal followers, and because she had given them life, she knew she couldn’t just turn her back on them, or ever let them know they strained her so. It wasn’t their fault even if it was; they did not ask to be born.

“We’re here, sit down wherever you like and I’ll make a pot of tea,” Jake offered her a break from spilling her raw emotion everywhere.

“Thanks Jake,” she smiled finally.

Jake went to the kitchen to boil a pot and prepare the tea while Bubblegum sat in the big chair.

“I didn’t know what I was feeling for Marcy, but it was messing me up, so I started working on stuff way more, and slowly I felt the rift form between us. I just grew more upset and stopped hanging out as much and things blew up when I slept through her concert. I had just been working day and night and lost track of time and couldn’t wake up even when my alarm was ringing. I knew it had hurt her but she just said she was going on tour and going to travel all around Ooo and take some time for herself. I accepted that,” the princess felt old wounds surface as well as old guilt.

“What about when she came back?” Jake offered, thinking of when they all played music together.

“She didn’t. I didn’t see her until after you guys got your house back. It didn’t go well. But that’s ahead in my story, Jake,” Bubblegum did not meet his gaze.

“Sorry PB,” Jake finally came back from the kitchen with two mugs of nice warm tea.

Bubblegum took her mug and stared into as she reminisced over her long life of mistakes, “She started dating some dude named Ash and I felt even weirder and junky and so I tried to make my own boyfriends. I tried again and again but couldn’t feel anything for any of them. So I stopped trying until I met her.”

Jake finished his sip before asking, “Who her?”

PB sighed and closed her eyes, “Her name was Shoko, and we had a lot of good times together, but ultimately, she broke my heart and stole something important from me. And I realized what I had felt for Marcy, was a crush.”

“So wait, I’m confused, what does this have to do with what happened earlier?” Jake had nearly drained his tea already.

“Glob dangit Jake, I only like girls! I care for you and Finn as good pals, but I only want to date girls!” the princess still had yet to take a sip of her tea as she was doing most of the talking.

“Oh glob, I’m sorry!” Jake slapped his cheeks in shock.

“It’s alright; guess I never was any good at implying things,” Princess Bubblegum finally took a sip of the tea.

“So what’s up with you and FP?” Jake asked, sensing lull in the conversation.

“I wanted to protect my kingdom,” PB was an unreadable wall.

Jake pushed his luck, “No I mean what’s really up with her?”

Finally, Bubblegum gave a real answer, “I tried to protect her from herself and the heartbreak of young love, but you’ve got to experience things in order to grow and be able to deal with those emotions; there seems to be no artificial way to avoid it. I only wish there was a way to make her reactions less volatile.”

After that, Jake let the princess sip her tea. He gave his own advice and thoughts on the situation. Bubblegum thought it was cute, but none of his ideas had any real merit so she allowed her mind to wander back to old thoughts. Seeing Finn and Flame Princess so happy together even though they had nearly died made her think about a certain vampire girl. Even though they still were on rough terms, PB was glad they seemed to be talking again.

Jake finally shook the princess out of her thoughts with another question, “So have you and Marceline made up? What’s the history of that?”

“Not quite. We’re both so stubborn, I want to apologize but I feel like it’s much too late,” Princess Bubblegum stared into her empty cup and was surprised when Jake took it.

“Take it from me, it’s never too late,” Jake said confidently stretching to get more tea.

Princess Bubblegum was thankful when he returned and did not restart conversation, allowing her time to enjoy her second cup of tea.

“Anyway, I still totally like like Marcy, but I know she totally is still upset for what I did?” she held her face in her hands.

Jake stretched a hand to her shoulder,

“Thanks for the tea and the talk,” PB stood up and began walking to the door, “Oh, and promise me you won’t tell anyone, yeah Jake?”

“Of course, princess, Are you gonna go back to the castle now?” Jake stretched his hand to put the dishes back into the kitchen and followed Princess Bubblegum to the door.

“Yeah I got stuff to do, can you keep an eye on Finn and Flame Princess?” PB smiled softly.

Jake nodded and she stepped out the door and he closed it behind her. The crisis of today had been averted but she still had a lot to think about. A lot of guilt prickled in her mind but she put it out for now. Maybe things could be better now for Flame Princess. Probably not, but statistics were never one hundred percent anything.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, tell me what you think thanks
> 
> AO3 likes to eat my formatting anyone know why?


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